VANADIUM PROCESSING

preparation of the metal for use in various products. Vanadium (V) is a grayish silver metal whose crystal structure is a body-centred cubic (bcc) lattice, with a melting point of 1,926 C (3,499 F). The metal is used principally as an alloying addition to high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels and, to a lesser extent, in tool steels and iron and steel castings. It is also an important strengthener for titanium alloys. Vanadium alloys are promising candidates for applications in nuclear reactors. The metal is recognized as an industrial hazard, however, as breathing of particulate material with a high vanadium content has been observed to cause an intense, dry cough accompanied by irritation of the nose, eyes, and throat. Additional reading Comprehensive and up-to-date information on many aspects of metallurgy, individual metals, and alloys can be found in convenient reference-form arrangement in the following works: Metals Handbook, 9th ed., 17 vol. (197889), a massive and detailed source prepared under the direction of the American Society for Metals, with a 10th edition that began publication in 1990; Herman F. Mark et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 3rd ed., 31 vol. (197884), formerly known as Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, with a 4th edition begun in 1991; and its European counterpart, the first English-language edition of a monumental German work, Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 5th, completely rev. ed., edited by Wolfgang Gerhartz et al. (1985 ). The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica H.Y. Sohn, O. Norman Carlson, and J. Thomas Smith (eds.), Extractive Metallurgy of Refractory Metals: Proceedings of a Symposium (1980), gathers together informative papers, with an in-depth treatment of the extraction and reduction processes of vanadium. A convenient single source of reference information on all the refractory metals is Clifford A. Hampel, Rare Metals Handbook, 2nd ed. (1961, reprinted 1971). Chun Tsin Wang Alexander Sutulov